Not all good books have to be high literature about well-developed characters going on emotional journeys and learning about themselves or whatever. We can use books about thought-provoking big ideas with some twists thrown in.
This is a strawman. There is a whole lot in the middle between "wooden" characters and "high literature about well-developed characters going on emotional journeys...". One can write an interesting character without attempting highfalutin literature.
Time and capacity is finite. There may be authors capable of creating both deep characters and insightful stories/settings in the same work - but there are more authors who are capable of only one or the other.
I understand you consider good characters the necessary part of a good work. For me, the necessary part is the ideas/setting/worldbuilding - good characters are nice to have, but they're not what I'm reading sci-fi for. Which means we'll both appreciate the stories of those few authors that nail both criteria, but otherwise we'll have opposite preferences.
